1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a tape printer that performs desired printing on a print-receiving tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known printers configured to perform desired printing on a print-receiving medium, such as a print-receiving tape. In this printer, a cartridge filled with ink (an ink cartridge) is mounted, and the ink supplied from that mounted cartridge is used to perform printing on a print-receiving medium (recording medium).
Here, the ink within the cartridge is consumed with each use, and thus the cartridge is a consumable good. Accordingly, at the very least, when all of the ink within the cartridge is consumed, the operator must replenish the ink by purchasing a new cartridge in order to newly perform printing. Or, sometimes the operator purchases a new cartridge as a reserve before the ink within the cartridge is consumed as described above.
When purchasing a new cartridge as described above, the operator generally intends to purchase a cartridge of the same model as the cartridge being used at that point in time (that is, the cartridge mounted to the printer). Here, according to the prior art, once the time for cartridge replacement draws near, the model of the cartridge is printed on a recording medium, thereby producing a warning letter and notifying the operator accordingly.
Nevertheless, at the time the new cartridge is to be purchased, the possibility exists that the model of the cartridge that the operator intends to purchase has ceased to exist as the result of a model change, etc., on the manufacturer side due to changes in consumer needs, minor changes on the printer side, version upgrades, and the like. In such a case, the operator, for example, needs to investigate on his or her own the new model corresponding to the model of the cartridge that ceased to exist and write down and separately bring the investigation results to a distributor, etc., which is extremely troublesome.
On the other hand, known printers that perform printing on a print-receiving medium similar to the above prior art include tape printers that perform printing on a print-receiving tape. In the tape printer, when a tape cartridge is mounted to the cartridge holder, the print-receiving tape supplied from that mounted tape cartridge is fed, and desired printing is performed on that fed print-receiving tape by a printing device. Since the print-receiving tape is consumed with each use by printing, this tape cartridge is also a consumable good, similar to the above. Accordingly, in a case where the model of the tape cartridge that the operator intends to purchase has ceased to exist, the same troublesome task as previously described arises.